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Friday, January 27, 2012

Manipulation of Time

“Time is what we want most, but what we use worst.”

- William Penn

I don’t have time. I wish I had the time. I’ll do it tomorrow. If only I had time. Someday I’ll go back to school. Someday I’ll take flying lessons. Someday I’ll go visit my friend. Someday I’ll write a book.

I learned a long time ago, a flight to someday lands at an airport called nowhere. This is a place where tomorrow never comes. You wake up, and tomorrow is always a day away. Talk about baggage fees. Carry your baggage on this flight, and you’ll be paying for the rest of your life.

Baggage—your stories of why you don’t have time. The fact is, you don’t have time because you haven’t put whatever it is that you think you want, on the top of your priority list.

Have you ever wondered why some people create phenomenal success, while others blame the lack of time on their inability to achieve their dreams? I’ve heard every excuse in the book, but the reality is, time is the only thing that we all have in common. Everyone has exactly 7 days in a week, 24 hours in a day, sixty minutes in an hour, and sixty seconds in a minute.

It’s not the lack of, but how you use it that counts.

The only way to achieve the success you desire is to put whatever you want on the top your priority list and make it a must.

Tony Robbins told me years ago, that the only way to success is to “turn my shoulds into musts.” When something is a must, you do it. Why does it take someone hitting rock bottom before they quit drinking? Hitting that bottom, life has becomes so painful that they must change, or they die. When we live comfortable lives, it’s hard to stir them up creating a mess of exhaustion. While the end result sounds really good, the effort is too painful. So we lie to ourselves and make stories as to why we “don’t have time.”

You fulfilling your dreams is about shaking up your life, and saying, “I must do this!” I will get more pleasure if I complete it, than if I don’t.

When I started writing many people said, “One day I’ll write a book, but right now I just don’t have the time.” Of course they have time. But until writing that book becomes a top priority they won’t create the time, they’ll just blame the lack of. Ask yourself whyyou haven’t accomplished my goals? What is really stopping you? It’s not the lack of time it’s your misappropriation of thw funds called time.

Time is a commodity—one of the most valuable commodities there is. How much would you spend for more of it? More importantly, with the time you have, how would you choose to spend it if you knew there was nothing that you couldn’t accomplish?

Imagine being given $24 a day—$1 for every hour. The catch is, if you don’t use it you lose it. What would you do with your $24? How far can you stretch your dollar?

I really want to write a book so I am spending $5 a day on working on my writing five hours per day until it’s done. I love to read and exercise—I read while exercising, so I can do two things for a $1. You mean it’s going to cost me $10 to sleep for 10 hours? Hmmm… I’m thinking I would rather spend two hours writing my blog, an hour playing scrabble with my husband, and sleeping 7 hours. Honestly, I’d give up another hour of sleep for more reading time in the bathtub. The point being, you have 24 hours a day, how will you spend them if you turned your wishes into musts?

Where do you waste time?

I challenge you to take notes on how much time you spend telling people all you have to do. Pay attention to how many times you’re standing in line, waiting at the school to pick up your kids, or sitting in an office somewhere, and that book you’ve always wanted to read (someday) is at home. How often do you sit on the couch for five minutes, that turn into an hour that you could have been sleeping if you’d just gone to bed? My favorite form of time wasting is procrastination by spending an hour (or more) making a to-do list for the next day. Better yet, ever call a friend and tell them how busy you are and proceed to give them the itinerary? We’ve all been there. There is time to be had. It’s up to you to find it.

The question of why some people create phenomenal success, while others blame the lack of time for their lack of success, is because they decide to take action on their dreams. They’ve decided that the value of what they will gain far exceeds the value of what they’re giving up to do it.

Unlocking the mystery of the lack of time syndrome falls into making your dreams a must, then managing those hours you have. Be honest with yourself and decide how you want to spend each moment of your life. Where do you waste time? Why haven’t you made “you” a priority on that daily list of to-dos?

You own 24 hours a day, what will you do with them? A secret to success is finding, making, and creating time. You have the power, and the time to achieve your dreams.

14 comments:

"with the time you have, how would you choose to spend it if you knew there was nothing that you couldn’t accomplish?" This is my favorite of all the excellent points you make, Karlene. It's so good, it's inspiring me to make a list (heh). Actually, I don't care for lists--never make them except when there are a bunch of things to do that I don't like and will conveniently forget unless they're glaring at me in black and white. Thanks for a great thought-provoking post.

Heather, I was thinking of you when I was writing this. You are a master of managing time! You write on your way to work. You carve moments out when there are none. You get a million things done. You're my time hero!

I'm definitely guilty of some of these. Also, since I've started writing, I've been amazed at how many "Someday you should write a book about that" or "Someday I'll write a book about that" comments I've heard. Someday might be too late!!!erica

Erica, So true. I just got back from meeting a 91 year old woman who said that she always wanted to go to Alaska and Africa, and I decided that I'm not going to let my somedays never get here. Thanks so much for the comment.

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About Me

I'm a writer who lives in the Pacific Northwest of the U.S. and loves to travel. I write mystery/suspense and historical fiction. One suspense novel, set in London and Cairo, is now on submission, while I delve into the struggle for survival that shaped the undeclared war between Native Americans and white American settlers in the Ohio River Valley in the late 1700s.